This week we had two major excursions. The first was a trip to Marigot on Wednesday (May 25) and the second was a trip to Topper’s Rhum Distillery on Friday (May 27). When we arrived in Marigot, I really enjoyed the sights of the town on the water and was charmed to see just how small the island really is since it took only 10 minutes to get there. Marigot is the capital of the French side of the island, so I was really looking forward to using some French which I studied for 12 years when growing up. I grew up in Maine for 14 years, so I was exposed to a lot of French language since we are right up by Canada.
When we reached Marigot, we drove halfway up Fort St. Louis, and then climbed up to the top. After tripping on the steps and busting my knee when trying to get a good photo of the view (ouch), we finally reached the top where we got great pictures, and beautiful fresh air. I went right up to the top to get a panoramic picture, but quickly went back down after my slight fear of heights kicked in.
After Fort St. Louis, we went over to the markets and had a bit of a shop. I spoke with a few of the merchants about their lives here on the island, and what drew them to moving to St. Martin. Mostly everyone said they came here to vacation, and never looked back. I thought that was interesting especially from a tourism point of view. In class, we talked a lot about what draws people to vacation in St. Martin. I never would have expected tourists to love it so much and permanently move here, but it is fascinating to hear people’s life stories as the island has a very diverse population. I think about my time here and my future goals in tourism marketing, and I find it very interesting to think that this island could be a place I decide to move to as well.
On Friday afternoon, we ventured over to Topper’s Rhum Distillery where we learned about the history of the business and met Topper himself. I thought it was interesting to learn about what goes into making the different flavors of rum, and the ways they can be used to cook or bake food like marinated chicken (using pineapple rum) or apple pie (using homemade apple pie rum). I thought the story behind Nelson’s Blood Rhum was interesting albeit disturbing. Basically, Admiral Nelson of the British Royal Navy was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar. To preserve his body, they put him in a barrel of rum. On the way home from Cape Trafalgar, the naval officers tapped the barrel and drank the rum that he was preserved in, hence the name “Nelson’s Blood Rum”; although disturbing, that story was quite interesting. In their restaurant, they had a beautiful chandelier made from their rum bottles and I thought that was such a pretty touch to their ambiance so I had to share!
Learning about the rum and the reach Topper’s has around the globe was very interesting. I posted a photo on social media of the sign, and a few of my friends back home told me they have had their rum and loved it; I had never heard of it before. From a public relations point of view, I was glad to see that Topper’s has a great marketing technique as well as a great company reputation. I hope to visit there again soon!
- Cat Gibbs
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